Closure systems for vehicles typically include at least one panel that is movable relative to a vehicle between an open position and a closed position to selectively close an opening of the vehicle. In the open position, the panel exposes an interior compartment of the vehicle while in the closed position the panel seals the interior compartment generally preventing entry of debris such as snow and rain.
While conventional closure systems adequately move between an open position and a closed position to selectively expose an interior compartment of a vehicle, conventional closure systems suffer from the disadvantage of requiring storage of the closure panel when the closure panel is in the open position. For example, a conventional sunroof panel must be stored between an outer panel of a vehicle (i.e., a roof panel, for example) and a headliner of the vehicle when the sunroof panel is in the open position. Storing the sunroof panel between the outer panel of the vehicle and the headliner necessarily requires a sufficient amount of space between the outer panel and the headliner to accommodate the sunroof panel, which increases the overall height of the vehicle and/or reduces the size of the interior compartment
In addition to retractable panels such as sunroofs, conventional closure systems may also include closure panels that are selectively removable from a vehicle when in the open position. Such conventional systems include hard-top systems and T-top systems. In either system, closure panels of the vehicle may be selectively removed from the vehicle to expose a passenger compartment of the vehicle. While removal of such panels adequately exposes a passenger compartment of the vehicle, removal of the closure panels requires storage of the closure panels either within a storage space of the vehicle (i.e., a trunk, for example) or in a space external from the vehicle,
Storing the closure panel within the vehicle consumes available storage space and therefore diminishes the overall utility of the vehicle. Similarly, storing the closure panel in a space exterior from the vehicle such as, for example, a garage, increases the likelihood that the panels may become damaged during movement and/or storage and also prevents a user from returning the closure panels to a closed position when the vehicle is driven away from the storage space. Storing such hard-top closure panels either within the vehicle or external from the vehicle results in complexity for the user and a diminished utility of the vehicle.